


Protectors of the Cup

by xslytherclawx



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bank Robbery, Crack, Death Eaters, Gen, Horcrux Hunting, Horcruxes, Kneazles, Minor Bellatrix Black Lestrange/Tom Riddle | Voldemort, Regulus Black Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:33:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23177755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xslytherclawx/pseuds/xslytherclawx
Summary: Regulus only has one Horcrux left, and he's not stupid enough to try to impersonate Bellatrix.
Comments: 27
Kudos: 126
Collections: Cards Against Muggles Crack Fest, xslytherclawx's Prompt Collection, xslytherclawx’s events collection





	Protectors of the Cup

**Author's Note:**

>   
> 

Regulus fully expects to get Cursed.

He didn’t expect it to be this easy.

All he had to do was tell Bellatrix that his mother needed her emerald necklace back, and hope that she didn’t distrust him enough to watch him like a hawk in the vault.

He certainly didn’t expect her to roll her eyes and tell him to just take Rabastan to the vault and pick up the necklace. Maybe he underestimated how much Bellatrix cared about anything but trying to sleep with the Dark Lord. Or maybe she knew he was up to something and told Rabastan to keep a lookout.

He doesn’t put it past Bellatrix to order him killed.

No one would find his body in the vault, after all.

He has a letter from Bellatrix granting her permission for him to enter the Lestrange vault, as if Rabastan taking him to Gringotts in the first place isn’t enough to get him in. (And maybe it’s not; no one outside of blood relations can enter the Black family vault).

The Goblin looks over the letter, looks from Regulus to Rabastan, and rolls his eyes. “Follow me.”

What choice does he have? If he doesn’t, he’ll never get the cup, and that’s the last Horcrux he needs to destroy. He keeps his mind blank. He can’t be found out.

Rabastan doesn’t seem to notice anything strange as they go deep down into the Gringotts vaults. The Lestrange vault isn’t quite as deep as the Black vault, but the ride still makes Regulus feel nauseated all the same.

They can’t get to the vault soon enough in his opinion. He’s taken all necessary precautions, but he can’t wait to get back to base, destroy the Horcrux, and be done with it.

Be done with all of it.

They arrive at the vault, and the Goblin lets them in.

Regulus expects a lot of things from the Lestrange vault: gold, riches, heirlooms (both cursed and otherwise), the necklace, and the Horcrux.

He does not expect to find at least a dozen Kneazles lounging on various piles of gold and heirlooms. He glances over to Rabastan, who looks as confused as he feels.

Even the Goblin seems to have no idea what’s going on.

“Were you… aware that there would be Kneazles?” Regulus asks. Dragons for protection are one thing, but Kneazles are another.

Rabastan shakes his head. “No. I don’t even know how they’re alive down here.”

Regulus represses a shudder. He wants to get the cup and go, but this has just made things much weirder than it needs to be. It’s a massive wrench in his plan, and he has no idea how to continue. Will the Kneazles attack him? He’s not a Lestrange, and even Rabastan (who _is_ a Lestrange, and by blood, too) doesn’t seem to know why the Kneazles are there.

He waits for Rabastan to go into the vault first, and when he does, one of the Kneazles looks up and lazily flicks its tail.

Regulus takes his chance to locate the cup while Rabastan has his eyes on as many of the Kneazles as possible. He finds it without much trouble; now just to get it into his bag without anyone noticing.

“The fucking creatures are on the necklace,” Rabastan says.

One of the Kneazles hisses at him, but interestingly, another comes to approach Regulus, and rubs its body against his legs.

“They seem to like me,” Regulus says.

Rabastan tries to enter the vault, but more Kneazles come running up to him, hackles raised.

“Why don’t you get the necklace?” Rabastan says.

Regulus knows summoning charms don’t work on Horcruxes, which makes his situation a bit more difficult. The Kneazles are crowding Rabastan now; he doesn’t seem to have any attention to spare for Regulus, so it’s just a quick detour. 

The Kneazles seem to be avoiding the cup. It’s almost too easy for Regulus to slip it into his bag unnoticed. He feints as if he’s going to pet one of the creatures, not that he thinks Rabastan is watching him.

By the time he collects the necklace (the Kneazles seem to like him, and move off the necklace without much protest; he’s not about to try to summon it without moving the Kneazles first), Rabastan is positively circled by the creatures.

Regulus isn’t sure where these Kneazles came from, but they seem to be passable at detecting unsavoury characters. He breezes out of the vault, settles into the cart, and calls for Rabastan to hurry up.

It isn’t until he gets back to base that he finds a Kneazle cub that, apparently, crawled into the pockets of his robes without him noticing.

It lays in the sunbeams coming in through the window as Regulus pours a vial of basilisk venom into the cup. It screams as it dies, though the Kneazle cub only flicks an ear.

He tidies up, throwing the dead Horcrux in a safe with the others. He’ll destroy them completely in Fiendfyre tomorrow, and then bury whatever remains.

For now, he has to give his mother her necklace.

And then figure out what on earth he’s supposed to do with a Kneazle cub.

**Author's Note:**

> come visit me on [tumblr](https://xslytherclawx.tumblr.com/), and feel free to join my Harry Potter [discord server](https://discord.gg/yb6bS3c)!


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